It’s bad news for SSE Airtricity electricity customers this morning, as the supplier has announced that it will increase its prices by 5.6% effective from November 1st 2017.
According to the supplier, this increase is a result of recently announced increases in regulated networks charges combined with an extended period of rising wholesale energy costs.
Today’s price change is SSE Airtricity’s first price increase in four years with the supplier claiming that it will only mean around an extra 90 cent more per week for the typical household customer (dependent on plan type*).
There is some good news for certain customers, however, as the increase will not be applied to SSE Airtricity’s most-in-need customers using Pay-As-You-Go meters to manage outstanding debt repayments.
David Manning, Director of Home Energy at SSE Airtricity, said:
“Today’s decision is not taken lightly and is driven by rising costs outside of our control. These include recently announced increases to regulated charges for using the electricity networks, which affect all suppliers, as well as prolonged increases in the cost of wholesale energy on global markets.
“From 2013, energy costs fell enabling us to reduce electricity prices three times and cut our average household bill by €83. Over the past year however external costs across the energy sector have been steadily rising. We’ve sought to insulate our customers from these rises for as long as possible, however regrettably at this time we have no option but to increase our prices. Despite this, the average SSE Airtricity household electricity bill is still €34 cheaper than it was four years ago.”**
“As ever, we promise to always protect our most-in-need customers, and so this price increase will not be applied to our customers who use Pay-As-You-Go electricity meters to manage outstanding debt repayments.”
How can I offset these costs?
Given that the PSO levy is also set to increase on October 1st, this latest price increase will likely not come as welcome news to the ears of SSE Airtricity electricity customers, especially as we are heading into winter, and the associated high energy costs that come with the season. The question is, how can you offset these price hikes?
The quickest and most reliable way to offset the increase is to #DitchAndSwitch suppliers if you haven’t done so within the last 12 months. By switching both your electricity and gas suppliers right now using bonkers.ie, you could save up to €324 on your annual energy bills (assuming you consume an average amount of energy - if you use more than average you could save even more!).
As an added incentive, if you #DitchAndSwitch before 5PM on Friday the 13th of October you could be in with a chance of bagging yourself an extra €324 as a thank you from us here at bonkers.ie. Here's how you can get involved in #DitchAndSwitch:
And for some extra tips on how to save money on your electricity bills, check out our video on the topic below:
*Equivalent cost based on a household electricity customer on 24hr SmartSaver Standard credit meter tariff (Direct Debit with eBilling) with typical annual consumption of 4,200 kWh. Figures are inclusive of VAT. Actual cost varies according to meter type, individual tariff and consumption.
**Combined savings quoted since 2013 based on SSE Airtricity 5% (€45.61) electricity price reduction from 1 August 2016; 2% (€18.96) electricity price reduction 11 January 2016; and 2% (€18.57) electricity price reduction from 1 April 2015. Savings quoted based on 24hr SmartSaver Standard credit meter tariff (Direct Debit with eBilling). The price change applies to 295,346 household electricity customers, based on Commission for Energy Regulation ‘Electricity and Gas Retail Markets Report Q1 2017’, published 9 August 2017.
